http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID_0#RAID_0

There are many different RAID configurations. Here’s more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID

The advantage of a RAID 0 is speed, but the disadvantage is I loose all my data if either drive fails. So a two-drive RAID 0 has (about) twice the speed but also twice the chance of failure.

With Windows XP, this speed advantage pays off. I notice my system is faster. It’s a noticable difference and I have not yet upgraded the CPU. This motherboard can take a CPU which is much faster than the one I have in it now. When I bought the CPU, I only went up to my price-point and stopped. After I add another video card, I’ll probably upgrade the CPU.

Next up, adding another video card just like the one I already have and hooking them together. Onward!

Here, I’ve removed the original plastic bracket which surrounds the CPU socket. This bracket was used to lock down the original heatsink & CPU fan. See previous game machine posts for detailed pictures of the motherboard and CPU as I assemble them together into the case.

Here, I’ve removed the metal bracket which lays across the CPU on the back of the motherboard. When buying this CPU cooler, I had no idea it would entail removing the entire original brackets. Well, live and learn.

Here are the parts, old and new. Near top-right are the old back-bracket, front-bracket, and heatsink with fan. The new brackets are below, and the new heat-sink is the huge tower of heatpipes and heatfins near center, the Thermalright Ultima90. Bottom is the new fan, way too big but what the heck, let’s see if it fits anyway. It glows evil red, you’ll see, keep reading. That screwdriver, by the way, is one of the most useful screwdrivers I’ve ever used; you can find it at Thinkgeek.

Here, I’ve got the new back-plate installed. It was easy. The instructions which come with it are pretty good, but the stuff they’ve got online is better.

The new support posts are visible here. I’ve already removed all the old thermal paste from the CPU. I used paper towels or small squares of toilet paper to get it off. Be careful with the stuff, the tiniest spec may short out your motherboard There is no new plastic bracket which surrounds the whole CPU area. You’ll see, keep reading…

Here, I’ve put the new thermal paste on, Arctic Silver 5. Good stuff. I used the flat edge of the knife pictured here (it’s not good for much else as it has a tendency to close on your fingers when prying with it). Be sure to spread it nice and thin. Also, you may notice that the two new side-brackets are installed on the posts from the back-plate.

Here, I’ve got the new thermal paste on the bottom of the CPU cooler tower of heatfins and heatpipes. Spread it nice and thin, as even as you can. Use a square of toilet paper or tissue paper to wipe up any excess.

Finally, the new gigantic tower of heatpipes and heatfins (Thermalright Ultima90) is installed on the CPU with plenty of thermal paste, (Arctic Silver 5). I call this tower the “Tower of Coolness”. Makes the motherboard look small. Hell, it makes everything else in my case look small! I had concerns that the side of my case wouldn’t fit. As it turns out, this is sort-of true. You’ll see… wait until I put the huge CPU fan on!

Here’s how the Tower of Coolness is fixed to the top of the CPU. Those two side-screws are connected to the two brackets on either side of the CPU, and those two side-brackets connect to the back-plate. So there is lots of good, solid, non-damaging leverage here. The two side-screws hold down the base of the tower using springs which push down upon a flat cross-bar. The flat cross-bar pushes down upon the top of the base of the tower. This cross-bar piece has a pointed dent in the center, visible in the previous picture, which seats perfectly into the top of the base of the tower. This is the only pressure on the Tower of Coolness, and the only thing holding it onto the CPU. All of these components are visible in this shot. If you look carefully, you can see some of the thermal paste squishing out between the top of the CPU and the bottom of the cooling tower (maybe I put too much on).

Here’s the new CPU fan! It’s huge! It’s taller than the huge stack of heatpipes & heatfins which make up the Tower of Coolness. I think I’m overdoing it a bit here. Oh well, gonna be cool!

Here’s another angle of the new gigantic CPU fan.

Once it’s installed, it will blow air straight up into the power supply’s huge 120mm fan. Perfect.

Here, the mobo has been re-installed in the case, the power supply is also in place, and I’m almost done. Those of you who work with fans like this one may notice that I’ve got it installed backwards; it’s facing down, so it would be sucking air down instead of blowing air up. I realized this mistake and turned it around later on, but didn’t get a picture of it.

Oooo, coool! It’s back in operation and glowing with fantastic red evilness! Everything still works perfectly.

The evil red CPU fan is directly under the tower of coolness, blowing air straight up, where the heat gets sucked through the power supply and out the back of the case. The side of the case no longer fits; the huge 120mm CPU fan sticks out too far. I’ll replace it with a smaller, 80mm fan soon.

OoooOOO! Evil red CPU fan spinning away, good evil glowy red goodness. Just to the right you can still (barely) see the lights on top of the high speed gaming RAM. The blue fan to the left is the one that came with the case, and I’ll be replacing all the original blue fans with red ones soon.

I sure don’t have to worry about my CPU overheating!

It’s a double-wide card. Even though it only plugs in to one high-speed PCI (x16) slot, it’s so wide that it takes up two slots. This is one of the reasons why I chose the particular motherboard that I did. It’s got room for two of these bad boys. Actually, technically, it can take four, but four double-wides like this one won’t fit.

Yes, those are heat-pipes. This is why it’s double-wide. It’s got heat fins and heat pipes all over the place, and the fan there blows all the heat straight out the back. Nice design, good cooling.

Here’s some info on overclocking this card without buying anything else, but just using the onboard fan:
http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=580

It’s installed, the case side panel is on, the side panel case fan is on (and glowing blue, but soon to be red), and all lights are all on in nifty glowy red goodness. You can see the lights on top of the RAM near the top.

Here’s a better shot, pulled-back a bit more so you can see the whole case. Oh yeah, my new game machine kicks ass. And this new ATI Radeon HD 4870 kicks some serious ass, too! Those red cold cathodes are so bright that they light up my room at night. Who needs a night-light when you’ve got a kick-ass gaming machine with evil-red cold cathodes?

Up next: New CPU cooler with evil-red fan.

Yet another view of the new cool game machine goodness. You can see the red cold cathodes fixed to the front and bottom of the case. The power box is right next to the one on the bottom, near center, right next to the speaker. This power box powers both cold cathodes.

Here, my new game machine is plugged in, but not yet powered up. Still, the thing has glowing power and reset buttons right on the motherboard! Is that cool or what? I don’t even need to plug it in to a case to turn it on! I love this mobo!

Life! This is a comparison shot between my linux server (green) and the new gaming machine (red). Yes, the linux server was always intended to be green. And yes, the game machine was always intended to be RED. It’s designed for destruction, after all! Destruction of my enemies (both AI and human alike). Muaa aah aaahhh! (evil laugh)

Neither case has the left-side panel installed at this time. The fans are blue because that’s the only option with this case, so I’ll have to get some green and red fans later on.

You may also notice the new high-speed gaming RAM has two little rows of lights on ‘em, red and green! I didn’t even know this when I got it. It’s so cool , they change and flicker with activity! Yes, I also put in a DVD burner drive; how else will I install all my games?

I use the motherboard box to store all the miscellaneous stuff such as cables, adaptors, manuals, screws, unused hardware, etc., when putting together a new system.

Next: New, kick-ass video card.

And here I’m holding the CPU power connectors so that you can see the label. Nice, eh? I love this power supply.

And these little guys… I think this is a huge leap forward. I LOVE these little connectors!

You take the individual case connectors, in this case, the USB connectors, and plug ‘em in to this little blue thing. This little blue thing is labeled on all sides, it’s just brilliant. Once they’re all in there, just slide the whole thing down on to the motherboard! Saves my back!

I love modern technology!

The Motherboard is an ASUS M3A79-T DELUXE, AMD 790FX chipset, ATX form factor, 4xPCI-E(x16) / 2XPCI / 4XDDR2, SATA2 RAID, 1GB lan, 1394 (firewire), lots of USB 2.0, and amazing audio capabilities. CPU type: AMD Socket AM2.

Power supply and motherboard installed in the case. I popped out the connector plate which came with the case, installed the one that came with the motherboard, and it all fits perfectly!

The RAM installed in the motherboard, and the CPU is ready, along with the CPU heatsink & fan.

The RAM is a CRUCIAL 4GB KIT (BL2KIT25664AL80A), high-speed gaming RAM set.

I like this motherboard because I can simply add two more 2G RAM sticks and double it. I’m not saying Windows XP will be able to use it (as of now, not all of my 4G is used), but I can expand it easily. This ease of expansion is important to me.

CPU installed. It went in easy as pie.

The CPU is an AMD ATHLON X2 7750 2.7G – Black. It was just under my pricepoint for this system. I can always upgrade.

And finally, the CPU heatsink & fan. Now I almost have a working computer.

I’ll probably replace this heatsink & fan with the kind I’ve got in my linux server; it looks like a tower of heatfins with a fan on the side.

Most of this stuff has been discontinued, but you can find suitable replacement components at mwave.com

So far, so good! More to come.

Here’s the new power supply. It’s a 700W, which should hold me for at least a week, maybe even two. The maker is called “be quiet!”, believe it or not. And with a huge 120mm fan, it’s pretty darn quiet. The type is called “STRAIGHTPOWER”, and it’s got enough cables and connections to power anything I may put in this machine (for a very long time). Most of the connections are labeled with colorful pictures of where they go (which is just nice of them).

This is the case. Yes, it’s the exact same case as my linux server.

I like this case. It’s clear acrylic by Logisys. It’s big enough for whatever I may need to put in it. It’s easy to work on. It’s clear. Did I mention that it’s totally clear acrylic? Way-cool.

This case comes with three small blue fans: one in front, one in the side, and one in back. They are lit by four blue LEDs, one in each corner. No, there is no option for green, nor for red. I’ll eventually have to replace them all with red fans, but they are still cool as-is.

I don’t know if they still have these items, but you can find most of this stuff at mwave.com and frozencpu.com. Mwave beats just about anyone else on price, and FrozenCPU specializes in all kinds of stuff for tricking out your computer big-time. That’s where I got the cool red cold cathodes from (in subsequent posts).

More to come.